The present invention relates to vehicles such as utility vehicles, golf cars and NEVS, and more particularly to power trains for such vehicles.
Vehicles such as utility vehicles, golf cars, NEVs, etc., typically include a frame, front and rear axles connected with the frame, two wheels connected with each axle and an engine or a motor mounted on the frame and configured to rotatably drive at least one axle. When the “prime mover” is an engine, such vehicles generally include a power train for transferring engine power from an output shaft of the engine to the driven axle or axles. As an engine output shaft generally rotates at a much higher speed than the desired rotational speed of the driven axle(s), power trains typically include a transmission that functions to drive the axles at a significantly lesser speed than the speed of engine output shaft. Often, power trains include one or two rotatable propeller shafts that function to transfer torque and rotational motion from the transmission to the one or more driven axles.